National Speech and Debate Tournament

2023 — Phoenix/Mesa, AZ/US

Christopher LaPee Paradigm

Policy
Policy Debate Judge Philosophy

Your experience with Policy Debate (check all that apply)

Policy debater in high school
Frequently judge Policy Debate

How many Policy rounds have you judged this year?

41+

Which best describes your approach to judging Policy Debate?

Tabula rasa
 

RATE OF DELIVERY

5/91 = slow and deliberate
9 = very rapid
 

QUANTITY OF ARGUMENTS

5/91 = a few well-developed arguments
9 = the more arguments the better
 

COMMUNICATION AND ISSUES

5/91 = communication skills most important
9 = resolving substantive issues most important
 

TOPICALITY: I am willing to vote on topicality:

1/91 = often
9 = rarely
 

COUNTERPLANS

1/91 = acceptable
9 = unacceptable
 

GENERIC DISADVANTAGES

1/91 = acceptable
9 = unacceptable
 

CONDITIONAL NEGATIVE POSITIONS

5/91 = acceptable
9 = unacceptable
 

DEBATE THEORY ARGUMENTS

1/91 = acceptable
9 = unacceptable
 

CRITIQUE (KRITIK) ARGUMENTS

1/91 = acceptable
9 = unacceptable
Additional remarks:

I do NPDA and NFA–LD debate in college. I did (Lay) policy debate for 4 years in KS 

I've learned that as I judge more the more I realize I don't particularly care for certain arguments over others. Rather, I care more about debaters doing what they're good at and maximizing their talents. Granted to whereas I'm ok with you reading whatever, given its not problematic, do keep in mind that the experience I've had with debate/arguments might not make me the best decision maker in the back of the room for that round. So if you get me in the back of the room read what you want but be mindful it might need a little explanation in the Rebuttals. I default tech over truth. The only time I'll use truth as a means of decision making is to break a tie in an argument which usually will only happen if the debate is very messy. I'm okay with speed if I cant catch what you're putting down I'll say CLEAR... I'll say clear three times before I stop flowing. Slow down on analytics even if they're on the doc. You shouldn't be reading analytics at card speed. 

If you wanna know how I evaluate args in depth check my paradigm 

 

 

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